Sky’s Ben Swift won a hotly contested sprint to take the stage win and the leader’s gold jersey in Stage Two of the 2011 Tour of California—actually, the first stage, as Stage One was cancelled due to snow.
Swift’s Team Sky organized a perfect five-man leadout in the final mile of the race, taking complete control of the peloton. Other teams with big sprinters like Saxo Bank with JJ Haedo and Cervelo with Thor Hushovd, had to fight for second-best position behind Sky.
When the final sprint came, Ben Swift timed it perfectly, waiting forcing the other riders to go around him, then launching when they tired.
Talking to Versus after the race, the 23-year-old Brit acknowledged that his team set him up to take the win.
“The team was awesome straight from the word “Go,” he said. “When we came to the circuits, the pace in the peloton really stepped up and the team guided me the whole way.
“For that last lap we were there all the time the team was absolutely fantastic and everybody did their job down to the wire. I can’t thank them enough.”
The young rider from Team Sky beat some of the best sprinters on the planet, including World Champion Thor Hushovd.
The victory meant more to Swift because, as he explained, “I don’t really class myself as an out-and-out sprinter—I prefer it when it’s been a hard day, up and down. To win a fast flat stage like that today, it was awesome.”
Snow forced the cancelation of Stage One of the Tour of California and forced Stage Two to be relocated. Originally designed to start in Squaw City and cross Donner Pass, Stage Two instead ran from Nevada City to Sacramento, because Donner Pass was snowed in.
The stage start had to be delayed two hours to set up the alternate route. Originally designed at 133 miles, the stage was cut almost in half to 77 miles, to accommodate the later start time.
The revised stage started with a thirty-mile downhill followed by a long flat section, culminating in three laps around the capital city of Sacramento. The stage was made for sprinters; the sprinters’ teams would not put up with a breakaway winning, and the long straight flat roads presented no obstacles to the chase.
Of course, breaks did form. The first break lasted only a few kilometers, but the riders tried again, and fifteen miles into the stage, four managed to stay away: Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis,) Timon Seubert (Team Netapp,) James Driscoll (Jamis-Sutter Home,) and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Cycling,) opened a gap which they stretched to five minutes before the peloton decided to shut them down.
The peloton nearly misjudged; possibly the lead riders didn’t include the final three laps of downtown Sacramento in their calculations. The break stayed away into the city, with Ben Jacques-Maynes staying out front until the eight-mile mark.
The Tour of California offers North American teams like Bissel and Jamis-Sutter Home, a chance to compete head-to-head with the European giants, so riding a good break, whether it succeeds or not, makes a strong statement
With the attackers caught, the big sprinters’ teams started fighting for position. Saxo Bank, riding for JJ Haedo, moved to the front of the peloton and pushed the pace.
Minutes after the race entered Sacramento, Rain started falling making the streets slick and dangerous. The riders had to push and take chances, but still maintain enough control to not need the brakes. At the pace they were traveling, the slightest error would drop a rider to the back of the field, if not to the pavement.
SpiderTech and Netapp, two North American teams, took a shot at controlling the peloton, but Saxo Bank fought its way back to the front, and stayed there until the final few kilometers.
Entering the final lap, Team Sky made its move, lining up five riders at the head of the peloton and completely controlling the pace. HTC-Highroad, riding for Matthew Goss, and Liquigas, setting up Peter Sagan, fought to break Sky’s grip but the young British team (only in its second year) had too much power.
Everyone got desperate in the final five hundred meters. HTC’s Matthew Goss went around the Sky train on the right, and took the lead, but was too far out to sustain the pace. SpiderTech’s Kevin Lancombe made an heroic move on the far right; no one was paying attention to this little-known North American rider, and he very nearly stole the stage.
Goss going early triggered a flurry of attacks, but Swift and his leadout man Greg Henderson waited the extra few dozen meters. When Swift launched Goss and Lancombe were peaking. The Sky rider caught them up, then hit his second kick and left them behind at the line.
Liquigas rider Peter Sagan also waited, then cut to the left of Swift. Sagan wasn’t fast enough to catch the flying Brit, but he did take second from Goss in a photo finish.
Ben Swift said he didn’t mind the chaos of the final 500 meters. “That normally happens because guys are trying to bring up their sprinters for the win,” he explained. “In that position your team’s just got to stay relaxed. You’ve got the pole and people are wasting energy trying to come around you.
“When Henderson went, it was absolutely perfect—he opened up the door for me. It was great teamwork.”
Swift was awarded the leader’s gold jersey as well as the King of the Mountain and Best Sprinters jerseys, even though there were no intermediate sprints or mountains. The gold is the only one that matters to him. “We will definitely try to defend it—until the big mountains, anyway,” he said.
Stage Three, 122 miles from Auburn to Modesto, starts with a long downhill, followed by a lot of little bumps; then the final third is pan-flat. This should be another day for the sprinters, and judging by Stage Two, it will be dramatic.
Swift’s Team Sky organized a perfect five-man leadout in the final mile of the race, taking complete control of the peloton. Other teams with big sprinters like Saxo Bank with JJ Haedo and Cervelo with Thor Hushovd, had to fight for second-best position behind Sky.
When the final sprint came, Ben Swift timed it perfectly, waiting forcing the other riders to go around him, then launching when they tired.
Talking to Versus after the race, the 23-year-old Brit acknowledged that his team set him up to take the win.
“The team was awesome straight from the word “Go,” he said. “When we came to the circuits, the pace in the peloton really stepped up and the team guided me the whole way.
“For that last lap we were there all the time the team was absolutely fantastic and everybody did their job down to the wire. I can’t thank them enough.”
The young rider from Team Sky beat some of the best sprinters on the planet, including World Champion Thor Hushovd.
The victory meant more to Swift because, as he explained, “I don’t really class myself as an out-and-out sprinter—I prefer it when it’s been a hard day, up and down. To win a fast flat stage like that today, it was awesome.”
Starting With Stage Two
Snow forced the cancelation of Stage One of the Tour of California and forced Stage Two to be relocated. Originally designed to start in Squaw City and cross Donner Pass, Stage Two instead ran from Nevada City to Sacramento, because Donner Pass was snowed in.
The stage start had to be delayed two hours to set up the alternate route. Originally designed at 133 miles, the stage was cut almost in half to 77 miles, to accommodate the later start time.
The revised stage started with a thirty-mile downhill followed by a long flat section, culminating in three laps around the capital city of Sacramento. The stage was made for sprinters; the sprinters’ teams would not put up with a breakaway winning, and the long straight flat roads presented no obstacles to the chase.
Of course, breaks did form. The first break lasted only a few kilometers, but the riders tried again, and fifteen miles into the stage, four managed to stay away: Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis,) Timon Seubert (Team Netapp,) James Driscoll (Jamis-Sutter Home,) and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Cycling,) opened a gap which they stretched to five minutes before the peloton decided to shut them down.
The peloton nearly misjudged; possibly the lead riders didn’t include the final three laps of downtown Sacramento in their calculations. The break stayed away into the city, with Ben Jacques-Maynes staying out front until the eight-mile mark.
The Tour of California offers North American teams like Bissel and Jamis-Sutter Home, a chance to compete head-to-head with the European giants, so riding a good break, whether it succeeds or not, makes a strong statement
Down to the Wire
With the attackers caught, the big sprinters’ teams started fighting for position. Saxo Bank, riding for JJ Haedo, moved to the front of the peloton and pushed the pace.
Minutes after the race entered Sacramento, Rain started falling making the streets slick and dangerous. The riders had to push and take chances, but still maintain enough control to not need the brakes. At the pace they were traveling, the slightest error would drop a rider to the back of the field, if not to the pavement.
SpiderTech and Netapp, two North American teams, took a shot at controlling the peloton, but Saxo Bank fought its way back to the front, and stayed there until the final few kilometers.
Entering the final lap, Team Sky made its move, lining up five riders at the head of the peloton and completely controlling the pace. HTC-Highroad, riding for Matthew Goss, and Liquigas, setting up Peter Sagan, fought to break Sky’s grip but the young British team (only in its second year) had too much power.
Everyone got desperate in the final five hundred meters. HTC’s Matthew Goss went around the Sky train on the right, and took the lead, but was too far out to sustain the pace. SpiderTech’s Kevin Lancombe made an heroic move on the far right; no one was paying attention to this little-known North American rider, and he very nearly stole the stage.
Goss going early triggered a flurry of attacks, but Swift and his leadout man Greg Henderson waited the extra few dozen meters. When Swift launched Goss and Lancombe were peaking. The Sky rider caught them up, then hit his second kick and left them behind at the line.
Liquigas rider Peter Sagan also waited, then cut to the left of Swift. Sagan wasn’t fast enough to catch the flying Brit, but he did take second from Goss in a photo finish.
Ben Swift said he didn’t mind the chaos of the final 500 meters. “That normally happens because guys are trying to bring up their sprinters for the win,” he explained. “In that position your team’s just got to stay relaxed. You’ve got the pole and people are wasting energy trying to come around you.
“When Henderson went, it was absolutely perfect—he opened up the door for me. It was great teamwork.”
Swift was awarded the leader’s gold jersey as well as the King of the Mountain and Best Sprinters jerseys, even though there were no intermediate sprints or mountains. The gold is the only one that matters to him. “We will definitely try to defend it—until the big mountains, anyway,” he said.
Stage Three, 122 miles from Auburn to Modesto, starts with a long downhill, followed by a lot of little bumps; then the final third is pan-flat. This should be another day for the sprinters, and judging by Stage Two, it will be dramatic.
